.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

What are the odds of getting even? Danny Ocean and the gang would have only one reason to pull off their most ambitious and riskiest casino heist -- to defend one of their own. But they’re going to need more than luck on their side to break The Bank. Ruthless casino owner Willy Bank never imagined that the odds were against him when he double-crossed Danny Ocean’s friend and mentor Reuben Tishkoff.

I have to say I really enjoyed Ocean's Eleven (7.5), it was a great and very original movie in terms of a criminal romp/heist kind of flick. Hadn't see as anything as smooth as that since the old gangster flicks. Plus the chemistry between Clooney and Pitt just worked really well.

Suffice to say I was disappointed and very underwhelmed by Ocean's Twelve (6.0).

I'd heard a number of people say Ocean's Thirteen wasn't that great...and strangely I hadn't checked the IMDB score - if I had I would have seen it's got a very good 7.1! Similar to the rating of the first.

I decided to watch it anyway, and I'm thankful I did. It was surprisingly good - noticeably better than the middle movie.

If you liked the first one, you'd definitely like this one.

Good acting, good plays, some funny gags, slick cons and interesting action all around.

The main trio were fantastic again (Clooney, Pitt and Damon) with the side characters being as charistmatic and goofy as ever.

Matt Damon shows the depth of his acting, the way he plays Bourne then this character are oceans apart (pardon the pun).

It's a very entertaining movie, if you haven't caught it yet - I suggest you do! Especially if you're a fan of the first.

I give it a solid 8/10.

Bourne is once again brought out of hiding, this time inadvertently by London-based reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation BlackBriar--an upgrade to Project Treadstone--in a series of newspaper columns. Bourne (Damon) sets up a meeting with Ross (Considine) and realizes instantly they're being scanned. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally, ultimately, uncover his dark past whilst dodging The Company's best efforts in trying to eradicate him.

As it was a trilogy from the start, I've always looked forward to the next Bourne movie since I saw The Bourne Identity (7.5) back in 2002. Following that was the excellent The Bourne Supremacy (7.5) in 2004 - which I'm happy to say was above my expectations. The first two gave me faith that the third would not disappoint.

Unlike Matrix....which had the best first part of any trilogy - one of the best movies ever. The second two were barely worth watching.

Lord of the Rings ended badly.

Most of the others are just franchises gone on too long (Ocean's 11, Pirate, Spiderman 3) - all which were horribly dissapointing.

I've been waiting most of the year for The Bourne Ultimatum - and I have to say it didn't disappoint - AT ALL.

This is probably the first trilogy that gives me 100% satisfaction without, each movie is different enough to stand strongly alone - but similar enough to fit well in the series. I'd kept hearing it was great, good, amazing but I stayed away from the reviews.

It's jumped into the Top 250 on IMDB at #98.

Matt Damon is of course superb again as Jason Bourne.

There is however a lot more development of characters in this movie and considerably less action, which in a way makes it even more compelling. The Bourne character has been well developed, and his relationship was somewhat abrubtly ended...so the development is more on those inside the CIA and those that made Bourne and others like him - which they call 'assets'.

I shall be buying the original box set trilogy as I love each movie and can see myself watching them many more times.

I give it an excellent finish to the series 9/10.

'The Departed' is set in South Boston, where the state police force is waging war on organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy is quickly gaining Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department.

I heard a lot of people saying this movie wasn't that good and that the original (Infernal Affairs) was much better, so I wasn't expecting much when I watched it finally.

Suffice to say I pleasantly surprised to find it was a truly excellent movie.

IMDB backs this up, as the movie has gone virtually straight in at the number 76 spot of the best 250 movies of all time.

I have watched both Infernal Affairs I and II but haven't yet watched III (apparently ties up some lose ends).

Some people say the time transitions in The Departed aren't very smooth and somewhat confusing, but I have to say it left me a hell of a lot less confused than Infernal Affairs did.

I mean what's the nonsense with changing actors completely when the character gets 5 years older? It totally threw me off!

Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio played their respective roles excellently, battling against each other through-out the movie.

I'm glad to see Leonardo DiCaprio getting some good roles again, he's been making a comeback since Catch me if you can and The Aviator. I also knew he was a good actor since I saw What's eating Gilbert Grape.

I thought Jack Nicholson was also excellent as the mob boss Costello, he plays that certain kind of sociopath psycho very well, a lot of people complained it was a bad choice and compared to Eric Tsang..But remember this movie has been changed and a lot of the Asian cultural references had to be removed as they wouldn't be understood, nor be relevant.

The cinematography and direction was of course excellent as expected by Martin Scorsese.

The irony of the whole storyline will of course be familiar if you've seen Infernal Affairs and this movie does delivery it all, it's hard hitting and gripping.

If you haven't watched it, I recommend it.

If you think Infernal Affairs is better...I disagree, in some ways Infernal Affairs is better..but in more ways it's not.

So The Departed wins.

I give it a gripping 9/10, one of the best movies of 2006.

Syriana is a thriller of corruption and power related to the oil industry that tells four parallel stories: the CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) with great experience in Middle East that falls in disgrace after an unsuccessful mission dealing missiles in Lebanese Republic; the investigation of the attorney Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) related to the merge of two American oil companies, Connex and Killen; the traumatic association of the energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) with the son of a powerful emir of Iran; and the social drama of the Pakistani immigrant worker Wasim Khan (Mazhar Munir) that is fired by the oil company.

Well it's a long time since I've done a movie review, so here you are! It's been quite a long time since I watched any movies, so there you go..

I've got a LOT of movies to catch up, so I'll bore you with some of the reviews.

Syriana was one of those big hyped movies from 2005, Oscar nominations, these awards, those awards etc etc. I was expecting a lot from it.

It got a solid 7.2 on IMDB, if not for the boring part it'd easily be a high 8.

Frankly the first 20 mins was a complete yawn-fest, I almost turned it off, I know someone that did fall asleep and someone else that did actually turn if off half way through.

It's a shame as it does get very much better after that.

It's an intricately woven tale showing the picture from the ground level with Pakistani workers being laid off in the oil fields, the political level, and the level of normal people like you and I with George Clooney and Matt Damon getting involved for vastly different reasons.

It's a deeply political film and very nicely linked together but slow in parts, it's definately thinkers film and is closely related to many of the things that have happened in recent times..

I believe it was banned in Malaysia due to some of the sensitive issues it addressed.

The acting was top notch, it's good to see Clooney taking a meaty role and once again Matt Damon showing his versatility.

It's an interesting enough movie, just don't expect any action, chicks, explosions or humour.

Serious and tense it is, light-hearted it is not.

You have to give it some time and get into the plot, the twists, the power struggles and the back-stabbing. It was based on a book which was apparently based on a real conflict, I have yet to look up who the prince was..but it's certainly interesting.

I'd give it a worth watching 6.5/10.